TORONTO — Mitch Marner's love for the Maple Leafs is no secret.
A turbulent, rumour-filled off-season left the star winger's future with the team he grew up supporting in doubt.
Marner has parked that chatter — at least for now — and impressed those around him with his approach.
The slick winger picked up his first two points of 2024-25 on Saturday with a goal and an assist in Toronto's 4-2 home-opening victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"I've watched Mitch from afar for a long time," said Leafs head coach Craig Berube, hired in May to kick-start an organization with just one playoff series victory in the NHL's salary cap era. "He's a very good two-way player, all-situational player … great teammate.
"Got a lot of energy — that's a lot of good, a lot of good."
Marner's output Saturday pushed him past Ron Ellis and into seventh on the Leafs' all-time scoring list with 641 points in 579 regular-season games.
"It's a really, really cool achievement," said the product of nearby Thornhill, Ont. "I've spoken a thousand times about being from here and loving growing up being a part of this team. It's really cool to have your name with some of the all-time greats that played with this jersey and with that logo."
Whether or not Marner would continue wearing those blue and white threads was a hot topic this summer after the Leafs were bounced in the opening round of the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons.
The 27-year-old forward took his share of the blame for past spring failures, but the 2024 loss to the Boston Bruins in seven games saw even more fan vitriol than normal.
Management publicly mused about changes to Toronto's high-paid and underperforming core, but opted for just one big move — firing head coach Sheldon Keefe and replacing him with the Stanley Cup-winning Berube.
Marner, who's in the final year of a big-money contract and has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1, may very well have followed his former bench boss out of town if not for a full no-movement clause attached to his current deal.
Toronto winger Matthew Knies said the noise around his linemate is nothing new.
"He has pressure on him all the time … I think all of us do," said Knies, who picked up his first goal of the season Saturday. "It's just the kind of market that we're in, but he's been a professional about it. He's been very mature about it. It doesn't really seem to bother him at all.
"I can tell it's not getting to him. He's playing his game and he's on fire right now. We want to keep it that way."
Marner made a terrific read early in Saturday's third period before blowing past a defender and ripping a shot beyond Joel Blomqvist's blocker for a 3-1 advantage.
"He's been awesome," said Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz, a teammate of Marner's with the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights a decade ago. "His attention to detail in the defensive zone, his edge work is amazing. Off the ice, he's a fun guy and brightens up this room.
"Someone that is extremely valuable to our team."
Marner tipped his hat to those around him after passing Ellis on the Leafs' all-time points list.
"Without them, that wouldn't be possible," he said. "It's five men on the ice, it's 23 guys every time. A lot of credit to everyone around me that's helped me get to this point.
"It's cool, but we're trying to achieve something cooler and greater."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2024.
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Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
